7 March 2004

Sunday in Lent, Year C
Opens with ‘what you own” from Rent

We are livin’ in America

We are what we own…
In nominee…

Who am I?

I am a girl, I am a daughter, and a child, and a student, a Christian, an Episcopalian, living in New Jersey, in a house, with a car—I- am a female youth living in a suburban neighborhood.

Is this who I am, what I want to be—living in America, at the beginning of a millennium, leaving the conscience at the tone. We are living in America at the beginning of a new millennium, are we what we own? Mark and Roger, the main characters in the Broadway show Rent, apparently thought so as they sang the song you just heard.

It’s an interesting question though—what are we? I mean, how do you identify yourself? Say to yourself- I am a ---- like, Fr. Jack would say I, Father Jack am a.. what… What’s your first association? You already heard mine.

PAUSE

In today’s gospel, Jesus laments, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the world, because his arms were open, begging people to go to him, to be with him, not to be what they own, not to, as Paul said to the Philippians, have “their god, their belly, and their glory their shame, their minds set on earthly things.”
Jesus is begging them to be children of his, of Gods, BUT GUESS WHAT!! Jesus isn’t dead! He’s still waiting, begging us to come to him, still weeping, still waiting.

Now, I’m not going to stand up here and say “We should act like Jesus.”
That we should throw out all of our associations, and totally act like the children of God that we are to the fullest- I won’t because well, because that expectation is completely unattainable and well- its silly and unproductive.

What I am going to suggest however, is that maybe we could at least try to TURN towards God. Not be like this, but like this… or least, we can try for catty-corner.

Maybe not throw out your associations, but revise them. Look at what you consider yourself first, I am a what? … Second? … Third? … Do any of these need to be reprioritized? What’s not on the list that you think should be? Do any of the things in the beginning of your list make “your belly your God” and put your mind toward earthly things, and not toward God?

But also, how many of our I am’s, are really I haves, like, someone might say “I am a housewife,” is really, I have a house, I have a husband. See, that I am is really an I have. Its lovely to be a housewife, but, that as an initial association gives an interesting idea of how we define ourselves.

Indeed, we are living in, at the beginning of a new millennium, with all the opportunities therein, and we don’t have to leave our conscience at the tone.We are living in America, at the beginning of a new millennium, a millennium of possibility, and we are not what we own, but what we strive to be, klutzy children, trying to turn towards God, each of us, an individual child for whom Jesus is weeping.We are living in America, in New Jersey, and in the world, at the beginning of a new millennium, and we belong to Christ.

And first of all, we are His.

Amen.